Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates generally to the field of transportation, and more particularly to a new and unique collapsible airship nose batten assembly which provides and maintains the aerodynamic shape during forward flight while retaining the sealed integrity of the containment chamber as it is being inflated, and is also able to fold during deflation and storage, while remaining an integral part of the airship assembly.
In the early 1900""s, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin created the first rigid airship, which had a metal framework to support the shape. Many of these first airships were used during World War I to bomb England. Because they offered a tremendous observation platform, early U.S. blimps were used to escort military ships through coastal waters. It was evident even at this early stage that the forward sections needed significant structural support to withstand the stresses incurred during forward flight. Primarily used as advertising aircraft, modern airship designs have evolved little from these early military aircraft, with few improvements in theory and technology. Some designs, particularly in terms of the reinforcing of the forward section of the airship hull, have remained virtually unchanged over the evolution of the aircraft.
The structure that comprises the battens for present day airships involves a rigid nose frame incorporating the mooring attachment and a number of pre-formed spars or battens radiating from the periphery and permanently attached to the skin of the hull. In practice, the nose batten assembly has been attached after the airship was inflated with a lifting gas, such as helium.
Since the cost of helium is extremely high, the convenience of deflating the airship for storage is prohibitive. Because of the rigid shape-conforming nature of the batten structure, the airship hull as well as the battens themselves would be damaged in this process. The inconvenience of deflation of a helium airship dictates the requirement of perpetual inflation and the need for storage on a mooring mast with subsequent twenty-four hour supervision, or storage in a large hanger. The concept of a deflatable airship has been a long sought-after solution to the exorbitant cost of operation for the present technology.
Experiments in attaching propulsive engines to hot air balloons has introduced a promising new approach to the cost-reduction solution for airship operations. Deriving their lift from heated air rather than expensive helium allows this new breed of airships to be inflated when needed and deflated and stored when not in use. These hot air airships, however, have lacked the ability to incorporate sufficient nose stiffening to achieve the equivalent airspeeds of helium airships. This would require a battening assembly that can unfold and erect in concert with the hull fabric during inflation, maintain a rigid shape while inflated and collapse in concert with the hull fabric during deflation.
With these requirements in mind, the inventor has designed an airship that utilizes heated air in place of helium and therefore can be inflated and deflated at will and, by virtue of a unique folding batten device, exhibits flight performance equivalent to that of a helium airship.
It has been found through the endeavors of the inventor and the patent search that there is no apparatus on the market and no apparent patents that have similar characteristics to the unique folding airship batten assembly devised by this inventor.
In a similar manner, Hagenlocher in U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,986 also teaches of a rigid framework that possesses the same limitations as Wagner. There is no mention of a nose stiffening structure or collapsible batten assembly in the art of this reference.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,007,405 by Rudolf Wagner et al. describes a complete framework for a gas airship that is of great strength and which enables the operator to remain in flight as long as possible. The airship described within this patent was constructed with a structural metal framework, which would make it impractical in hot air airship applications.
Terrell H. Yon, Jr., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,295, teaches of a mooring structure that minimizes distortion of the hull during mooring, but does not describe a folding batten assembly that maintains the aerodynamic shape of the hull during forward flight.
John D. Hunt, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,325 also teaches a mooring nose cone assembly that was developed to improve upon the heavier and more costly hard nose structures with battens. This patent does not describe a structure that maintains the aerodynamic shape of the hull during forward flight.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,544,190 by J. C. Smith, and 1,656,137 by A. Bradford both include references to rigid nose caps that contribute to the aerodynamic shape of the hull during forward flight, but do not describe the ability to deploy and collapse during inflation and deflation.
U. S. Pat. No. 3,116,037 by P. E. Yost describes an inflated tube mounted internally in a balloon intended to stiffen the hull while being towed by another aircraft. This pressurized tube, however, did not incorporate rigid stiffeners that could be deployed and collapsed during inflation and deflation.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,505,135 by Ludwig Durr teaches of an invention that refers to airships and more especially, to airships of the rigid type, comprising a plurality of gas chambers and its particular object is a novel system for stiffening the outer envelopes of the gas chambers. This is another patent that relates to the structural elements of a rigid airship only.
No prior art teaches or suggests the particular novelty of the folding airship nose batten assembly.
In addition to the objects and advantages of the folding nose batten assembly described in the above invention, several additional objects and advantages include:
(a) to provide a device that will support, protect, and maintain the aerodynamic profile of the nose of an airship.
(b) to provide a device that will support and protect the nose of an airship when it is being maneuvered by way of its ground handling lines.
(c) to provide a device that will support and protect the nose of an airship when it is attached to its mooring station.
(d) to provide a device that will disperse the stresses involved, while restraining an airship, through a large area of the nose section.
(e) to provide a device that will support and protect the nose of an airship while in forward flight.
(f) to provide a collapsible batten assembly for the nose of an airship.
(g) to provide a foldable, lightweight batten assembly for ease of handling and storage.
(h) to create a means by which the nose batten assembly can be made to collapse at will.
(i) to create a means of sealing the fabric containment chamber while supplying an airship nose batten assembly.
(j) to create an airship that can collapse into a small space and be easily transported, not requiring a hanger.
(k) to create a lightweight nose batten assembly that will be an integral part of the airship.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a collapsible airship batten device comprises an inflatable containment chamber and a batten assembly, which is attached to the front section of the containment chamber. The batten assembly is opened upon inflation of the containment chamber and the batten assembly is freely collapsible during the deflation process.